Color/Appearance: Color can be highly variable, but tends to be medium golden or reddish brown, similar to Koa or Mahogany. There are usually contrasting bands of color in the growth rings, and it is not uncommon to see boards with ribbon-like streaks of color. Boards figured with wavy and/or curly grain are also not uncommon.

Grain/Texture:Grain is usually straight to slightly interlocked, and sometimes wavy. Uniform fine to medium texture.

Endgrain: Diffuse-porous; large pores in no specific arrangement; few to very few; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; narrow rays, spacing normal, can be reddish color; parenchyma vasicentric.

Workability: Australian Blackwood is easily worked with both hand and machine tools, though figured wood and pieces with interlocked grain can cause tearout. Australian Blackwood turns, glues, stains, and finishes well. Responds well to steam bending.

Pricing/Availability: Although Australian Blackwood is considered an invasive species and a pest in some areas, the lumber is still fairly expensive, and figured wood is even costlier. It has been used as a lower-cost alternative to Hawaiian Koa.

Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Comments: Although called “Blackwood,” the name is somewhat of a misnomer, as its wood is not at all black. Rather, its lustrous golden brown grain has been used as a sustainable alternative to Koa. The species has been introduced to a number of regions worldwide—either as an ornamental shade tree, or on a plantation for lumber—and in many areas, the hardy tree species has become an invasive species.

Australian Blackwood compares very closely with Koa. Australian Blackwood tends to have a straighter grain, and slightly better machining characteristics than Koa.

Scans/Pictures: A special thanks to Steve Earis for providing the wood veneer sample of this wood species.

Australian Blackwood (sanded)

Australian Blackwood (sealed)

Australian Blackwood (endgrain)

Australian Blackwood (endgrain 10x)

Mick Cooper

Hi,

I believe that the term ‘blackwood’ comes not so much from the colour of the timber but (according to an old lumber-hand I met in Tasmainia) the high levels of tanin in the timber resulting in dark brown to black stains on the woodworkers hands. Have you heard of this theory before? I can certainly attest to the black stains on my hands having worked with this species extensively. By the way, this is an excellent website and I am grateful to persons such as yourself for providing such clear and concise information on the web.

Regards,

Mick.

Tony Wolcott

I really like the finished wood, but one complaint is the ‘silica’ like quality to the wood. This means a great deal of sharpening tools and slower to work. I wonder if anyone else has had the same experience. Acacia melanoxylon is certainly a weed here in California.

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